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So I have a lot of art friends who have gone into adjunct instructing.  This is teaching part time at a higher education institution.  At most schools you are only eligible to teach two classes per semester.  If you teach more than this you are considered full time and thus deserve benefits which is something they don’t want to or can’t give you.  Depending on the type of institution (public, private, community college, etc.) and the number of credits allotted for your course the pay is anywhere between $1,200 to $3,800 per class.  Private colleges would be at the top end of this spectrum and community colleges at the lower end.  Because of these monetary restrictions some people opt for teaching at more than one school.  Just make sure whatever you decide that you remember what’s most important to you.  Do not overload yourself if it will mean your studio efforts will suffer.

The work can be very rewarding.  You get to share what you know, potentially use the school’s equipment, and meet other working artists.  The downsides can be a lack of control over your course material and you sometimes end up doing more work than you get paid for (however if you do this, it means you care about your class and students which may not be financially beneficial, but in the end will give you more experience and make you a better instructor).

How do you get these types of jobs?  Well I would say most of it is through networking.  Ask your artists friends if there are openings at the schools where they teach.  Go to gallery openings at or around the schools where you’d like to teach.  Enter exhibitions in their galleries or where you know a faculty will be the juror.  CALL THEM!  I have to say, I’ve gotten the best reception when I call people.  I feel like emails get ignored and that only makes me frustrated about the application process.  Most of the time we are just a name in a stack of files so anything you can do that introduces you to these schools and people will be helpful.